L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 10 L'Italo-Americano T oday, Eataly is a household name, especially if you love high quali- t y , g e n u i n e Made in Italy: with stores in Italy, Germany, France, t h e U S , S w e d e n , C a n a d a , Brazil, China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia -just to name a few locations - the famous brand has, we can say, con- quered the world. The US is home to eight stores, includ- ing one in Los Angeles, and will open a ninth one by the end of this year in New York City, on Lafayette St. — it'll be the third in the Big Apple. Historically connected to t h e n a m e a n d f i g u r e o f Oscar Farinetti, Eataly's founder, 52% of the compa- n y h a s b e e n r e c e n t l y acquired by Andrea Bono- mi's Investindustrial, but customers don't need to fret, b e c a u s e i t s p h i l o s o p h y remains unchanged: finding and offering to the wider public food companies and brands that focus on quality, environmental and econom- ic sustainability, responsibil- ity and sharing. The result, still today, is a portfolio of products and producers that p r o p o s e t h e b e s t w h e n i t comes to quality, taste, and authenticity. Farinetti came out with the idea of Eataly in 2002 and, with the help of another important Italian reality, Slow Food, he began his quest for the right produc- ers. The first Eataly store opened in Turin five years l a t e r , i n 2 0 0 7 , i n t h e o l d Carpano liqueur factory. In that first store, you could already find all the ingredi- e n t s t h a t w e r e t o m a k e Eataly famous around the w o r l d : g o o d p r o d u c t s , o f course, but also the opportu- nity to get to know food bet- ter through tastings, cooking c l a s s e s , s e m i n a r s a n d , o f course, shopping. In 2008, Eataly opened in Bologna, where the first "gastro-libreria," a book- shop where you can enjoy good food, along with good literature, was created. In 2009, the first international s t o r e w a s i n a u g u r a t e d i n Tokyo, and another one in Piemonte, in Pinerolo, not f a r f r o m T u r i n . I n 2 0 1 0 , Eataly landed in the home of the Slow Food Movement, the Piedmontese province of Cuneo, with the opening of a store in Monticello d'Al- ba, and finally came to the U S A , o n N e w Y o r k ' s 5 t h Avenue. The largest store opened, of course, in Rome in 2012, while 2013 saw new ventures rising in Turkey, Dubai, and Chicago. In 2014 the Milanese store located in the former Teatro Smeraldo brought together food and music, with the presence of a s t a g e d e d i c a t e d t o l i v e music. From 2015 to 2020, the world truly became, as the people of Eataly puts it, "eataliano" with more loca- t i o n s o p e n i n g i n M o n a c o ( G e r m a n y ) , S e o u l ( S o u t h Korea), Sao Paulo (Brazil), N e w Y o r k a g a i n , B o s t o n , R i y a d h , T r i e s t e , B o l o g n a F I C O , T o k y o G r a n s t a Marunouchi, Moscow, Pari- gi, Toronto, Kuwait and Los Angeles (2017). The 41st Eataly store opened in 2020 in Dallas and 2021 saw the birth of the first UK branch. A t r u l y i n t e r n a t i o n a l vocation, for a company that wants to bring around the world the most authentic and genuine Made in Italy, but also show how our culi- nary tradition can easily go hand in hand with key con- temporary concepts like sus- tainability. It is all about, as we find on Italy's official website, "Attention to quali- ty, to the culture of good food and simple communi- cation. Because food for us is passion before being a job. We are committed to bring- ing our simple philosophy to t h e w o r l d a n d t o t e l l i n g e v e r y o n e q u a l i t y a n d responsibility can benefit us all." Farinetti explains it all even better: "Eataly's suc- cess is linked to our philoso- phy, because people can eat, s h o p a n d l e a r n a l l a b o u t h i g h - q u a l i t y f o o d , t h r e e activities that don't coexist anywhere else. Moreover, our informal style of com- m u n i c a t i o n s h o w s h o w direct and approachable we a r e , j u s t t h e w a y p e o p l e like." It's easy to see why Eataly is successful, but we must admit its name has played a role, too: how clever is it, when you think of it? Easy to see, it comes from the union of the English verb "eat" and "Italy," and it is perhaps the most perfect brand name e v e r i n v e n t e d . N o t m a n y know, however, the interest- ing story behind it. Contrary t o w h a t m o s t o f u s m a y believe, the happy neolo- g i s m w a s n ' t c r e a t e d b y Eataly's father Farinetti, but b y a r e l a t i v e l y u n k n o w n b u s i n e s s c o n s u l t a n t called Celestino Ciocca. C i o c c a , w h o i s o r i g i n a l l y from Molise, has had a long career in the "total brand experience" business, that branch of marketing aimed at associating a brand with a w h o l e p h i l o s o p h y r a t h e r than a simple product. Cioc- ca made a name for himself especially in the food and wine sector, also thanks to c o l l a b o r a t i o n s w i t h b i g names such as wine produc- er Antinori and coffee mogul Illy. In 2000, he came out with the idea of declining the name of our country in a slightly more colorful way, joining it with one of its peo- ple's most beloved activities, e a t i n g . C i o c c a h a d b e e n working on a personal pro- ject, one where the brand to support was… Italian food c u l t u r e . W h e n h e m e t Farinetti, the two joined, so to speak, forces and, eventu- ally Ciocca sold the rights to u s e t h e n a m e " E a t a l y " t o Farinetti for his own, today incredibly successful, vision- ary venture. Eataly: a perfect name for a guarantor of culinary italianità GIULIA FRANCESCHINI Eataly sells high quality, sustainable Italian products (Photo: Brasilnut/Dreamstime) IMPRESA ITALIA MADE IN ITALY TOP BRANDS BUSINESS & ECONOMY

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